Retail availability of the $249 AirPods Pro 2 starts tomorrow, September 23. However, the new earbuds won’t support two features on iPad and Mac at launch.
- What’s happening? Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are arriving in stores tomorrow, Friday, September 23, with two new features missing on iPad and Mac.
- Why care? Because you may be expecting to use all the new features of AirPods Pro 2 from day one on all devices, but that won’t be possible until October.
- What to do? Wait until Apple releases iPadOS 16 alongside macOS Ventura sometime in October to use the missing features on your iPad and Mac.
Personalized spatial audio on iPad and Mac due in October
Apple’s spatial audio feature is getting even better on the new AirPods Pro. Spatial audio uses various filters and effects to simulate a 360-degree soundscape.
And with a new feature called personalized spatial audio, you can now create a custom sound profile for even more immersive spatial audio. Â It uses the TrueDepth camera on your iPhone to detect the unique characteristics of your ear and create a custom sound profile just for it. Read: What is spatialized stereo and how to use it?
Your sound profile is automatically synchronized across Apple devices running the latest versions of the iOS, iPadOS, macOS and tvOS operating systems.
Personalized spatial audio is already present in iOS 16.0, and it works like a charm. To use it on your iPad and Mac though you’ll need to wait until iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura launch sometime in October. This feature is supported on the third-generation AirPods, all AirPods Pro models and AirPods Max. Apple’s support document provides further info on how personalized spatial audio works.
Also in October: Locating a charging case on iPad and Mac
Apple has redesigned the charging case, it now sports a built-in speaker and support for Apple’s Find My service so you can quickly locate a misplaced charging case.
The charging case supports both Qi wireless charging and MagSafe, in addition to wired charging via Lightning, and comes with a lanyard loop.
With iOS 16, you can use Find My on your iPhone to locate a misplaced charging case. But putting your charging case to lost mode on your iPad and Mac won’t be possible until iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura launch in October.
Better noise cancellation and other improvements
Aside from the new charging case, AirPods Pro 2 feature Apple’s new headphone chip, dubbed H2, which powers enhanced computational audio features.
You get up to 2x better active noise cancellation, enhanced Transparency mode and an additional hour of battery life for a total of six. And these earbuds now ship with a new extra small ear tip size so you can now choose between four sizes (XS, S, M, L) for an even better fit. Read: 20+ things to do after buying AirPods